


How Clint Finally Finds Out

by BucksomeBarnes (Freckled_Halos)



Series: the Assembled Avengers Initiative [4]
Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe
Genre: Coming Out, Feel-good, Fluff, Friendship, Humor, M/M, Slice of Life
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-19
Updated: 2018-06-19
Packaged: 2019-05-25 08:54:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,674
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14973608
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freckled_Halos/pseuds/BucksomeBarnes
Summary: Steve and Bucky are becoming less concerned about hiding their relationship, but Clint is totally oblivious.





	How Clint Finally Finds Out

As time went on, Steve started to become more comfortable with Bucky in front of the gang. Not everybody knew outright, but Steve hid things less. They would sit closer together at the conference table and brush hands in the hallways. While openly lounging on the couch, Steve would put his arm around Bucky or even lay his head on his shoulder. It was never anything too obvious, but it wasn’t subtle either.

And for whatever reason, Clint just did not pick up on any of it.

Once Steve and Bucky noticed this, it became almost a game, seeing how far they could push it until he finally figured it out.

On a Tuesday afternoon, Clint, Bucky, Steve and Natasha were eating lunch together in the communal dining room. Bucky was practically moaning into his pasta dish, shoveling forkfuls into this mouth.

“Is he always this noisy?” Natasha asked, raising an eyebrow at Steve.

“Only when it’s really fucking good,” Bucky answered instead, eyeing Steve up and down.

Steve rolled his eyes, “as if you’ve ever gotten anything _less_ than ‘really fucking good.’”

Bucky couldn’t hide his smile as he took another massive bite and winked at Steve.

Clint looked up from his plate saying, “There was this stuff they made in one of the SHIELD cafeterias that was so good, remember that Nat? That beefy noodle thing?”

Natasha’s eyes slid from Steve to Clint as she took a bite of her own lunch. “It was fine,” she smirked. “I’m not a huge red meat person.”

“Steve is,” Bucky leered cheekily, “Big meat person. Loves it. Don’t you, doll?”

Turning a light pink, Steve glared at Bucky and responded, “I’m more of a little meat person, it seems.”

Bucky pursed his lips as Natasha laughed and muttered, “Good lord…”

“Man, I love it. Nothing’s better than a big ol’ grilled rib eye, know what I mean?” Clint added, cheerily oblivious.

At this point, Bucky, Steve, and Nat were all making eyes at each other. Pushing their luck, Steve turned to Bucky and asked, “can I try some of that if it’s so good?” He leaned towards Bucky, opening his mouth expectantly.

Steve noticed Bucky glance at his open lips and swallow hard, but he obliged, gathering up a forkful and holding it up to Steve’s face, who obscenely took the entire thing into his mouth, running his lips along the prongs in a way that made Bucky’s stomach leap.

“Mm, not bad,” Steve mused, slowly licking his lips, staring at Bucky as he did.

“You know what,” Bucky blurted suddenly. “I forgot about that thing we have to do. Upstairs. Right now.”

“Right, that,” Steve answered, clearing his throat and pretending to check his watch. “Sorry, guys,” he added, looking between Clint and Nat.

“You two are ridiculous,” she replied, shaking her head.

They blundered out of the room, leaving their dishes on the table, Steve calling, “we’ll clean ‘em later,” before disappearing.

“It can’t be that good if he’s willing to just leave it here,” Clint murmured, helping himself to Bucky’s plate. Making a satisfied noise, he swallowed the bite and took another. “Man, whatever they’re doing upstairs cannot be worth not finishing this.”

Natasha quirked an eyebrow. “Sometimes there are more important things to _finish_ , Clint.”

“Nah, I don’t think so,” he replied through another mouthful.

Nat closed her eyes and sighed.  

 

The next time was a Friday night. They had all spent the latter part of the week following up on reports of AIM agents in the city, none of which lead to anything significant. Tony, Pepper, Thor, Natasha, Clint, Sam, Steve, and Bucky were all gathered in the lounge, drinking and relaxing. Tony’s favorite classic rock playlist filtered out of the building’s intercom system and filled the room. Sam, who was feeling pretty good (and was one of the only individuals present who could truly get drunk) stood and announced how wonderful an idea karaoke seemed at the moment. Groans erupted from everyone except Clint and Thor.

“Excellent idea, Sam!” Thor cried, also standing.

“ _No_ ,” Tony replied, running a hand down his face. “That is most definitely _not_ an excellent idea.”

“Come on,” Clint added, “it’ll be fun! Barnes, you in?”

Bucky raised an eyebrow and shifted his arm that was around Steve’s neck. “No.”

Steve nudged him with a shoulder and smiled mischievously. “Oh, come on, Buck. You have a nice voice!”

“No,” he repeated, scoffing.  

Steve turned to the rest of the room and fake-whispered, “he’s shy. But get him in the shower and it’s all Bing Crosby all the time. Been like that since we were kids.”

Bucky teasingly punched him in the ribs, producing a surprised “oof” from Steve’s mouth.

“What about you, old man?” Bucky continued as Steve narrowed his eyes suspiciously. “Remember that time we spent the entire day in bed with the radio turned up real loud, so the neighbors wouldn’t hear us? Boy, did I make you sing that day—"

“Alright!” Steve interjected, blushing and holding his hands up in surrender. “Sorry I said anything.”

Clint looked between the two of them for a couple seconds before raising his arms and sighing, “ _Fine_. Anyone else?!”

 

The defining moment was during a late weeknight. Tony, Thor, Steve, Bucky, and Clint were in the common room, spread out on couches and chairs around the coffee table playing cards and telling stories.

“Have you ever fooled around on a mission?” Clint asked Tony.

He snorted. “Not on a mission. I’ve been with Pepper pretty much the entire time Iron Man’s existed, but before that…” he whistled. “Too many to count.”

Clint shook his head and Bucky rolled his eyes.

“Why? Have you?” Tony asked back.  

Clint scratched the back of his head. “With Nat? Not really. She’s too professional,” he smirked. “There was this time in Amsterdam, though, before anything was going on between us. I met this super cute Norwegian girl at a bar and almost sealed the deal, but duty called and we had to chase a lead.”

There was a pause.

“Steve?” Clint asked.

“What?” Surprised, Steve looked up from his cards, Clint looking expectantly at him.

“Have you ever had sex on duty?”

Bucky tried to choke back a laugh, unsuccessfully. “Define ‘on duty.’” He replied, looking at Clint.

Both Tony and Thor shifted in their seats, glancing at each other and then at Steve.

“Did you ever go all the way with Peggy?” Clint asked good-naturedly.

Steve flushed slightly and Bucky looked very intently at his own hands. “Oh…uh…no,” he stammered. “We just, ah…no, not…no.” His eyes slid towards Bucky whose expression was unreadable.  

“What about you, Barnes?” Clint said. “When you were in the army,” he added carefully, not wanting to acknowledge any potential Winter Solider-era encounters.

Raising his head, Bucky’s expression lightened. “Oh, yeah.”

“Yeah?” Clint replied excitedly.

“All the time. Secretly, of course. When you’re around so many other guys for such a long amount of time, you have to get kind of creative.” He shot a glance at Steve.

“Behind a tree once, wasn’t it? In the middle of the damn _day_ ,” Steve said, pulling a small grin.

Bucky laughed. “That wasn’t my best idea.”

“What about that time in an abandoned grain silo? What country was that in…?”

“Ugh, so dusty,” Bucky replied. “It still kind of amazes me. Despite all the shit going on, we still somehow found time to sneak away for quickies. In the middle of a fucking war.” Bucky smirked at Steve and added, “oh to be 26 again, eh, Rogers?”

“26 or 96, doesn’t seem to make a difference in your stamina. Or neediness.” 

Tony groaned. “We don’t need to know that.”

“ _My_ stamina?” Bucky shot back. “Back then, I was just a normal guy, not some freakishly huge, tireless, super soldier. It took a lot to keep up with you.”

Thor laughed heartily and Tony put his head in his hands. “Again, we don’t need details!”

“Now that you are both enhanced, does that make matching pace easier?” Thor asked genuinely, to which Tony replied with a hissed “ _Thor, no._ ”

“I don’t know about easier,” Bucky started, holding back a smile, “but it makes it a lot _harder_ a lot _faster_.”

Tony made a painfully exasperated noise and Steve shook his head, chuckling, as Thor bellowed with laughter, adding, “yes, I can relate to that!”

Clint looked between the four men. A nagging feeling was in the back of his head telling him there was a piece of this conversation he was missing.

“Wait…” he ventured, “because you both have super serum in you, it’s easier to keep up with each other? Like you’re trying to beat each other—”

Bucky and Thor laughed at the accidental play on words and Steve tried not to smile.

“—beat each other at how many girls you sleep with?” Clint finished, slightly lost.

Steve looked at his hands, his ears reddening, unable to meet Clint’s questioning stare.

Thank God for Bucky coming up with something to say. Even if it was just a quiet, “no, Barton.”

A few silent moments passed. It was Clint’s turn to blush as the gears slowly shifted in his head and all the pieces came together. “Oh,” he said. “ _Oh._ ”

Bucky was gauging Clint’s reaction as Steve slowly raised his head. Tony was looking at Clint like he was thick, but Thor had a happy and encouraging expression on his face.

Clint’s mouth opened and he let out a long disbelieving sigh, putting his hands on his head. “This whole time? This whole time and I never…”

“Don’t know how you missed it,” Tony grumbled. “They’re disgustingly obvious.”

Clint looked between Steve and Bucky, the cogs turning in his brain clearly visible on his face. Steve smiled brightly at him and shrugged, the flushing finally starting to dissipate. Clint smiled back. 

“Let’s start this game over,” Steve said lightly, looking at each of his friends and putting his hand of cards down. “Thor? Dealer?”

**Author's Note:**

> Will I ever write something where Steve doesn't blush? No and no one can make me.
> 
> Also, what do guys even talk about together? I'm just assuming sex is a likely answer lol


End file.
